


Tree of Life

by athousandwinds



Category: Murdoch Mysteries (TV)
Genre: F/M, Yuletide 2008
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-21
Updated: 2011-01-21
Packaged: 2017-10-14 22:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/154254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/athousandwinds/pseuds/athousandwinds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Why is there foliage on my desk, Detective Murdoch?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tree of Life

**Author's Note:**

  * For [groovekittie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/groovekittie/gifts).



"Doctor Ogden?"

"Detective Murdoch," she said, smiling involuntarily at him. He smiled back, looking awkward and excited. Christmas, she thought, although surely even Murdoch couldn't find Midnight Mass so desperately thrilling as all that.

"Have you had a look at the specimen I left on your desk?" he enquired anxiously.

"Which was that?" she asked, running her mind back over her office. "I'm sorry, if it's under the foliage someone's dumped there, then I haven't seen it."

" - Ah," said Murdoch. "That would be it."

Ogden's stomach dropped. This was what one got for being rude. Or at least for not having Murdoch followed at all times to find out what he was doing and why, as Inspector Brackenreid had threatened on occasion.

"Why on earth?" she asked, trying to remember what exactly the shrubbery had been. "Is it for a case? Surely the Inspector is giving you Christmas Day for a holiday."

"It's an example of the genus _thuja occidentalis_ of the Cupressaceae family," said Murdoch, trying and failing to conceal his eagerness. "It's a - rather interesting specimen, that's all."

"I'm not a botanist at all," said Ogden, a little ruefully. "I believe they grow in the countryside, though. Did you drive out there?"

"Ah, yes," said Murdoch, as if he weren't entirely sure what the relevance of this question was, and if it might cause him trouble later.

"If I remember correctly," Ogden said, a certain suspicion taking root in her mind, "those trees are approximately a thousand years old."

"I think I hear George calling," said Murdoch abruptly, and fled. Ogden turned and went straight back to her office, a slight spring in her step.

What _thuja occidentalis_ of the Cupressaceae family turned out to be was arborvitae, an evergreen tree. Ogden picked it up, smiling, and touched the needles thoughtfully. Really, Murdoch couldn't have given her something more ordinary if he'd tried. Maple leaves, perhaps, or white trilliums. Unless she missed her guess, arborvitae had no particular meaning -

She _did_ miss her guess, she thought suddenly.

As a young girl, she had strenuously resisted any idea of romance. She had a scientific brain, she had protested, she did, she did. As one aged, sentimentality would have its day, and a few weeks earlier she had bought herself a guide to the language of flowers. It was a silly, old-fashioned thingummybob, and the only person she'd shown it to was Detective Murdoch.

Arborvitae, as she discovered, meant "true friendship".

Ogden smiled all day.


End file.
